In his final season, the fact that Bobby Cox held a team torn apart by injury after injury together, was apparently not enough to earn him his fifth Manager of the Year award. Here are the results from the Baseball Writers Association of America:
| Manager | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
| Bud Black, San Diego Padres | 16 | 7 | 3 | 104 |
| Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds | 13 | 12 | 2 | 103 |
| Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants | 1 | 4 | 13 | 30 |
| Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves | 1 | 4 | 11 | 28 |
| Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 4 | 3 | 20 |
| Brad Mills, Houston Astros | 1 | 3 |
Cox did receive one first place vote, but so did at least five other managers. Nice of the writers to give the award to the manager of the team that really did collapse their way out of a playoff berth, though.
0 recs | 38 comments
this
is horseshit.
Jon Bois - November 17, 2010
I agree with Gondeee
I’m not upset that Cox didn’t win, but it is a little odd that Black won.
Chipper Pwns - November 17, 2010
This.
I could have gotten behind Dusty Baker, because Cincinnati made quite the run, but not Black. That team imploded late. Sadly it looks like the Reds are going to be the whipping boys this year, taking all the snubs; Votto’s already been jacked out of his GG and SS, and you can bet your boots that means everybody will make “safe” choice of giving Pujols the MVP as well.
J-Freak - November 17, 2010
Well think of how the Padres were in 2009. He turned them around.
MBL1 - November 17, 2010
Agreed.
The award is for the entire season, not just the stretch portion.
Amazingly close race at the top.
Tarkus - November 17, 2010
It's not even close
Bud Black deserved the award. He had absolutely nothing on his team and took them to the final weekend of the year.
Scott Coleman - November 17, 2010
Yes.
The fact that they were even in position to “blow it” speaks volumes about the job he did.
Tarkus - November 17, 2010
Kinda' like the Braves
I’m protective of the late 2000s era Brave for essentially the same reason. I would compare it to the aura of Bobby Cox in the last seven or eight years.
Chipper Pwns - November 18, 2010
You could say the same about Bochy.
king of games - November 17, 2010
He had the best pitching staff in the NL. His offense wasn’t much, but it was still better than what the Padres had.
Scott Coleman - November 17, 2010
Black’s pitching staff wasn’t too bad either.
-Primetime21- - November 17, 2010
It was far worse than the Giants' staff...
…at least the starters. The pen was great, but the starters were a bunch of question marks and one rookie who broke out.
cavebird - November 17, 2010
what.
Look at their payroll and offensive starters. That’s a .500 club on paper and Black turned them into a damn near playoff team.
I love Bobby as much as anyone, but Black deserved the award.
Fatvirus - November 17, 2010
OT: The new Eminem and T.I. song is magic.
Scott Coleman - November 17, 2010
Complete joke.
Sir Stealth - November 17, 2010
Doesn't bother me.
Call it a collapse, call it whatever you like. The Padres were supposed to finish fourth at best in the division, possibly last. Instead, they improved their record by 15 games and took the Giants and the Braves to the final game of the season before falling out.
The Giants only improved by four games, Cincinnati took an advantage of a division that was much weaker this season than last, the Braves finished in the WC after a similar downturn late in the season.
None of those teams were slated to finish fourth or worse in their division before the season began. Even though the Padres didn’t quite make the playoffs, they were without a doubt the most improved team in the National League.
-C
cthabeerman - November 17, 2010
Just glad Baker didn't win
Baker’s strategy:
Bunt a lot, don’t clog up the bases, don’t forget to start Votto.
He won the same amount of games as the Braves, without facing the Phillies 18 times, and with guys who hit 37, 20, 25, 22, 18, 18 home runs.
Obviously we had better pitching, but we also had Chipper out, Prado played hurt then went out at the end, Heyward missed a good amount of time and then played hurt, Jurrjens missed half the year, Medlen out for the year.
I’m not saying Cox should have won, but WTF is Baker doing up there? Did he manage Votto to slug .600? Brilliant.
The Goche - November 17, 2010
why Bud Black?
his Padres choked at the end of the season, Cox finally turned this team around in his final year and he only get 1 first place vote? I can understand Dusty Backer, but not Bud Black
southman - November 17, 2010
wow
Holy shit… Dusty’s got twice the talent and finished, what, a GAME ahead of Bud Black’s team?
Fatvirus - November 17, 2010
Not to mention...
Game 1 counts exactly the same as Game 162.
Tarkus - November 17, 2010
Baker turned a horrible team into a contender
San Diego chocked the last 2 years at the end, that doesn’t say manager of the year to me
southman - November 18, 2010
Horrible how??
Horrible to people who don’t pay attention, maybe.
The pitching there isn’t dominant, but that was a strong lineup before the season, much better than the Padres. Add in the young talent, and they’re solid contenders, as they were.
The pitching has a way to go, but no one had the Reds sitting fifth or sixth in that division in March, like the Padres were projected (4-5th, one less team in the West).
-C
cthabeerman - November 18, 2010
Many, many people actually had the Reds projected to win the division.
Doghnut - November 18, 2010
huh, interesting
southman - November 18, 2010
Off topic but...
…just finished the Fangraph’s chat and apparently a package of Prado, Jurrjens, Delgado, and Vizcaino wouldn’t even be a legit starting point for Justin Upton according to those guys.
I’m sorry, I like Upton…….but it’s possible we’ve already seen his ceiling, he strikes out 25% of the time, has never played more than 138 games in any season, and watched his SLG dip almost 100 points from 2009.
As for the MOTY, I’m fine with it. Bobby should’ve finished higher, but Black is a deserving candidate.
Undocorkscrew - November 17, 2010
This whole Justin Upton thing is getting annoying.
Towers always does this; he’ll have a bad team with one really good player and create all these rumors to gage how much he could get for his star.
Scott Coleman - November 17, 2010
I don't even thinks he tries to create the rumors.
He just likes to talk and he can’t help himself. The reporters, loving rumors, know what questions to ask.
cavebird - November 17, 2010
My picks would be
Black
Cox
Bochy
Baker
Manual
Mills
Speaking of having next to no talent and doing well, Brad Mills probably deserved a few more votes.
Fatvirus - November 17, 2010
More proof
Writers should not be voting for awards. Most of the time, they do not know whatt hey are doing. Not saying Bobby should have won, but Black and the fadeaway Padres won?
hawves - November 17, 2010
More proof
That you’re in over your head on the argument of what makes a great manager, on a seasonal basis.
-C
cthabeerman - November 17, 2010
I'm sure he had the Padres running away with the NL West.
Tarkus - November 17, 2010
Didn't everybody??
cthabeerman - November 17, 2010
Imposter!
Mr. Sanchez - November 17, 2010
ESPN didn't even show Bobby????!!!!
but they showed Brad Mills and Manuel for some reason
Hudson's Soul Patch - November 17, 2010
why were you watching ESPN?
Fatvirus - November 17, 2010
Highlights
At least they’re pretty good at that.
Hudson's Soul Patch - November 17, 2010
Congrats Black.
You did a fantastic job coaching a team that was supposed to finish last despite having a hot second half the previous season. I love Bobby and he did a hell of a job but Black deserved the win. It wasn’t Black that faded down the stretch, the lack of position talent finally bubbled up.
Pavy848 - November 17, 2010
I think it should have been a close contest between Bruce Bochy and Bobby Cox. I thinking winning should play a bigger role in deciding who wins the award. After all, look at the Braves… Bobby got the team (or the team got the team for Bobby) despite all the injuries at the end of the season. Pretty remarkable if you ask me.
I didn’t pick Bochy because of the World Series. I think he just did a better job than the rest.
proeye - November 17, 2010
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